JUBA, Sudan (AP) - Election officials say the final results from last month's vote in Southern Sudan show that more than 98 percent of the ballots were cast for independence.
The results mean that Southern Sudan will become the world's newest country in July. Sudan President Omar Al-Bashir said Monday he accepts the outcome of the vote.
North and South Sudan fought a decades-long civil war that ended in 2005 with a peace agreement that guaranteed last month's vote. More than 2 million people died in the war between 1983 and 2005.
The two sides must still negotiate citizenship rights, oil rights and border demarcation.
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